Bills' Codgers Defy Logic

JAGUARS - Next opponent: Buffalo Bills

Buffalo, Whose Starting Lineup Is The Oldest In The Playoffs, Is Once Again In The Hunt For A Super Bowl Berth.

December 27, 1996|By Mike Dame of The Sentinel Staff

By NFL standards, the Buffalo Bills are a team of codgers. The most notorious collection of runners-up in the history of sports.

This walking punch line, however, refuses to fade away.

Led by a 71-year-old coach, Marv Levy, the Bills - losers of four consecutive Super Bowls from 1991-94 - are in the hunt for a fifth Super Bowl trip. Logic says this is their last chance. The average age of Buffalo's starters is 29.9, oldest of any team in the playoffs.

The Bills, however, aren't ascribing to that theory as they prepare for Saturday's wild-card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

''We've been asked that question probably the last three years. 'Is this your last time?' '' said quarterback Jim Kelly, 36. ''After our second Super Bowl they were saying that. After our third Super Bowl, they were saying that. After the fourth Super Bowl, they were saying that. And we continue to keep plugging away. Here we are.''

Here the Bills are again. But, just barely.

After a 9-3 start, Buffalo lost three consecutive games to set up last week's must-win game against Kansas City for a playoff berth. The Bills' 20-9 victory took them off the respirators and out of intensive care.

For that, Buffalo can thank its ageless core of veterans that includes:

- Defensive end Bruce Smith, 33, who led the defense with nine tackles and a third-quarter sack that caused a fumble in last week's game.

- Thurman Thomas, 30, who set up the Bills' first touchdown on a 27-yard screen pass from Kelly.

- Receiver Andre Reed, 32, who led the team with six catches for 76 yards.

- Receiver Steve Tasker, 34, who had four catches for 87 yards.

- And holding everything together was center Kent Hull, 35, the anchor of the offensive line since 1986.

''I don't know how they do it, but they do it,'' said Jaguars defensive end Jeff Lageman, in his eighth NFL season. ''They seem to have that core group of guys, and they've been there through the years, and they're the guys that carry them. In big games, you can always count on Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith and Thurman. They rise to the occasion.''

Do those aging players still have enough in the tank for another Super Bowl run? Or are the Bills simply treading water?

''We only have eight players left on our team from our first Super Bowl appearance in (the) 1990 (season), so there's a transition that occurs during that time,'' Levy said. ''Sure, they're the cornerstone. We've added other good players, too. But there's no sense of nostalgia or sense of anything other than concentration on the task at hand right now.''

Other recent Super Bowl teams, such as the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, went downhill after their great players got too old to perform at a high level. The Bills have avoided a similar fate by carefully adding veteran free agents such as linebackers Bryce Paup and Chris Spielman and wide receiver Quinn Early, and weaving draft picks such as rookie wide receiver Eric Moulds and rookie linebacker Gabe Northern into the lineup.

''We're definitely not a team that's creaking along,'' Kelly said.

As a team, maybe not. However, Kelly sure is creaking. The former Miami Hurricane has struggled through the worst season of his career while missing two games with a hamstring injury. More than a few fans were ready to hand the job to his backup, second-year quarterback Todd Collins.

Even Bills General Manager John Butler conceded that time may be running out on Buffalo's veteran six-man core.

''We know that the inevitable will occur,'' Butler said, ''but I hate to think about the day that we won't have all those guys together making plays for us.''

Right now, the Bills are just hoping the codgers have one more run in them.